BA to host hackathon at 30,000 feet

British Airways has announced it will be holding "a hack at 30,000 feet" to
solve the problem of providing opportunities for talented people
across the globe.

The hackathon takes the form of an eleven-hour plane journey
from San Francisco to London. But, rather than watching movies and
investigating the delights of the drinks trolley, the 100
handpicked passengers will put their heads together to draft
potential solutions to the "global misalignment of talent" (the
idea that talented individuals and opportunities for them to take
advantage of are not distributed in accordance with one
another).

The passengers will apparently be chosen from a pool of
"forward-thinking founders, CEOs, venture capitalists, and Silicon
Valley game-changers" and will be expected to present the fruits of
their airborne discussions to UN delegates once the plane
lands.

The airborne hackathon is part of the Decide Now Act (DNA) Summit,
which takes place in London in June. The event will bring together
leaders from business, film, science, technology, sort and
philanthropy to tackle four pressing issues for the United
Nations.

The event comprises of four acts: technology, humanitarian,
business and sport. The BA Ungrounded Innovation Lab constitutes
the technology aspect. The business act will be lead by the UN
Office for Partnerships and offers up UK companies to bid for the
"DNA Profit with Purpose Prize" run with Bridges Ventures. This
will see £100,000 invested in a charismatic entrepreneur building a
business that delivers both profit and a social or environmental
impact. The sports act will lead to the creation of a network of
global sporting heroes that will sign up to community service for
deprived communities around the world. Finally, the humanitarian
act aims to create a "Humanitarian Super Highway", an international
network of humanitarians from a wide range of industries that the
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs can call
upon when disaster strikes.

The Chairman of DNA, Mark Florman, who is also CEO of the
British Venture Capital Association said: "The aims of Decide Now
Act are of the utmost importance. From education to disaster relief
and infrastructure development we are bringing together the best
and the brightest from every field to create a global network of
experts that can help in any eventuality."

Edited by Nate Lanxon

Comments

sounds weird

James

Mar 21st 2013

I ain't getting on no plane sukka!!

MR T

Mar 21st 2013

So lets get the top 100 (decided by whom?) onto a single point of failure which potentially results in the loss of all said top 100 mover and shakers.Suspect the person who thought that up is not in that list.